Study of Visual Ergonomic Issues in Title Design in Popular Hindi Cinema Posters

Abstract

Vision is our direct association with the world. Our eyes help us to interact with our surrounding environment in many ways depending on the stimulus it receive from the outer world. Visual communication design has close connection with human vision factor. Indian cinema is defined by the films produced across the country in different languages and Hindi cinema is one of them. Across timeline, film posters have been one of the key modes of film advertisement and title design as its important component. Till early 1990s, before the arrival of digital technology in India, many film posters were designed by artists who never had a formal design education. Through this paper, an attempt has been made to see that, to what extent visual ergonomic issues have been considered in title design of popular Hindi cinema posters. Six key factors—reach, clearance, posture, strength, colour and positioning—have been used to assess the characteristics and ergonomic appropriateness of letters. Result shows that artists have given emphasis over these six factors to address the issue of readability and legibility along with visual appearance.